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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Chap. Copyright No. 

Shelf_AL•^.BS^' 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



FRIENDS OF AMERICAN LIBERTY 

LAFAYETTE 



THE FOUR GREAT AMERICANS SERIES 

Biographical Stories of Great Americans 
for Young Americans 

EDITED BY 

James Baldwin, Ph.D. 



VOLUMES NOW READY 

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George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, 
Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln 

By JAMES BALDWIN, Ph.D. 

Cloth, 246 pages - - _ - Price, 50 cents 

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Andrew Jackson, U. S. Grant 

By ALMA HOLMAN BURTON 
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FRANCE AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



LAFAYETTE 



THE FRIEND OF AMERICAN LIBERTY 



ALMA HOLMAN BURTON 

Author of " The Story of Our Country," " Four American Patriots " etc. 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

James Baldwin, Ph.D. 




WERNER SCHOOL BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 



lv'U7 

Copyright, 1S9S, 
By Werner School Book Company 




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INTRODUCTION. 

The story of the Marquis de Lafayette forms one of the 
most interesting chapters in the history of human liberty. 
To understand clearly the nature of Lafayette's services, 
both to America and to the whole world, we must first 
think of the conditions of life at the beginning of his 
career, and then contrast them with those which now 
prevail. One hundred and forty years ago, when Lafayette 
was a child, the world was not so pleasant a place to live 
in as it is in our own time. Even in the most enlight- 
ened countries of Europe, the majority of the people were 
downtrodden and oppressed. Men had scarcely so much as 
heard of liberty. Outside of England and her colonies, the 
idea of popular freedom was unknown. 

This idea, as you may have learned elsewhere, seems to 
have been a sort of birthright of the Anglo-Saxon race. Ever 
since the barons of England forced King John to grant them 
a charter of rights, the peoples of that race have defended 
and cherished it. Like a spark of fire in the midst of gen- 
eral gloom, it has oftentimes been almost extinguished; and 
yet, no matter how its enemies have tried to stamp it out, 
it has survived and been rekindled. 

The American colonists, because this idea of liberty was 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

implanted in their hearts, rebelled against the tyranny of 
George III., and boldly demanded their rights as freebom 
Englishmen. Frenchmen, at that time, would not have done 
this. They would have tamely submitted to . every form of 
oppression, not yet having learned that the common people 
have certain rights which even kings must respect. Indeed, 
at the very time that the American patriots were refusing to 
obey the unjust laws of their English rulers, the common 
people of France were suffering from, oppressions ten times as 
great; and yet they had no thought of resistance, but sub- 
mitted silently, as creatures whose only duty was to obey their 
masters. At the very time that our forefathers were resisting 
the payment of the tax on tea, the common people of France 
were paying all the taxes for the support of the French king 
and his nobles. 

So burdensome were these taxes that they consumed the 
greater part of every man's earnings. The people had no 
voice in the management of public affairs, nor had they any 
rights save to toil unceasingly for those who had set them- 
selves over them. Every year thousands of persons died of 
starvation, because the earnings of labor, instead of providing 
food for the laborers, were taken for taxes. Meanwhile, the 
nobles, or privileged classes, who owned all the land, were 
living in ease and luxury; they did no work of any kind; 
they paid no taxes; they seemed to live for no purpose but to 
gratify their own pleasures and do honor to the king. 



INTRODUCTION. 9 

Such was the condition of France at the time Lafayette 
was preparing to aid the cause of liberty in America. Do 
you ask why he did not first help the oppressed in his own 
country? They were not yet ready to be profited by such 
assistance. The time was not ripe for any movement against 
the tyranny of the king and his court. To the downtrodden 
people of France, liberty seemed a thing so impossible that 
they had not even so much as dreamed of contending for it. 

Lafayette was not one of the people — he was a member 
of the nobility, and we should naturally expect to find him 
arrayed on the side of the oppressor rather than on that of 
the oppressed. But here his patriotism seems all the more 
praiseworthy because it was wholly unselfish. What could he 
expect to gain by befriending the American colonists ? They 
could not even offer him a salary as an officer in the con- 
tinental army. Did he hope to win fame by great achieve- 
ments in war ? There were in Europe other and more promising 
fields for the display of military genius. In only one way can 
we account for his ardor in behalf of American liberty, and 
that is by saying that he was imbued with the true spirit of 
freedom, and was, therefore, a friend to all mankind. He 
thought that he saw in America the first opportunity to do 
good by striking a blow at oppression. The results were 
greater than any one could have dreamed. Without his aid it 
is hardly possible that our revolution would have succeeded; 
without it, the American colonies might have still remained 



lo INTRODUCTION. 

under the control of Great Britain. But his friendship for 
American liberty turned the tide and made the history of the 
nineteenth century very different from what it would other\^nse 
have been. The success of the American cause aroused the 
long-oppressed people of France to a sense of their rights and 
urged them to a similar resistance to tyranny. Thus, through 
lending aid to the colonists, Lafayette found the surest means 
of doing service for his own countrymen, and the people of 
two continents thereby became his debtors. 

What has been the final result of these uprisings for 
liberty ? The spirit of freedom has extended its blessed influ- 
ence over the whole globe, and to-day there is hardly a 
country under the sun from which tyranny and oppression 
have not been banished. The right of every man to life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is no longer disputed; for 
men everj^where have learned the true meaning of liberty and 
have acquired the courage to stand up fearlessly in its 
defense. 

To the great leaders, statesmen, and warriors, through 
whom American independence was won, the whole world 
owes a debt of gratitude. And, while every American citi- 
zen takes pleasure in commemorating the deeds of Washing- 
ton, our greatest patriot, let the place next to him in our 
affections be reser\^ed for that brave friend of American liberty, 
the Marquis de Lafayette. 

James Baldwin. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Introduction ...... 7 

I. The Colonies in North America . . 15 

II. The Young Marquis .... 20 

III. The Courtier 25 

IV. The Dinner Party ..... 28 
V. The Departure for America . . -32 

VI. Washington's Aide-de-camp ... 37 

VII. Louis XVI. Promises a Fleet . . -44 

VIII. The Furlough 46 

IX. The Victory at Yorktown . . .51 

X. A Visit to Mount Vernon ... 56 

XI. The National Assembly . . . -59 

XII. The French Revolution ... 61 

XIII. An Exile and in Prison . . . .68 

XIV. The Man of Two Worlds ... 73 
XV. The Last Days of a Patriot . . .80 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Portrait of Lafayette 

Map of Our Country in 1750 

George III. 

Chateau de Chavaniac 

Louis XVI. 

A British Soldier 

Baron De Kalb . 

Silas Deane . . .^ . 

George Washington . 

Alexander Hamilton . 

Washington at Valley Forge 

Benjamin Franklin 

Lafayette's Sword 

Benedict Arnold . 

General Anthony Wayne 

Lord Cornwallis . 

Mount Vernon . 

Frederick the Great . 

Thomas Jefferson 

The Bastille 

Marie Antoinette 

James Monroe 

Napoleon Bonaparte 

La Grange . 

Statue of Lafayette 

John Adams 

Bunker Hill Monument 

Daniel Webster 

Louis Philippe 

Lafayette's Grave 

Liberty Enlightening the World 



PAGE 

Fro7itispiece 

15 

18 
20 
26 
31 
34 
35 
39 
40 
43 
45 
50 
52 
53 
54 
56 
58 
62 

64 
66 
70 

71 

72 

74 
76 
77 
78 
82 
83 



MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



I. — The Colonies in North America. 

One hundred and fifty years ago North America was 
claimed by three kingdoms of Europe. Spain claimed 
Florida, Mexico, and the country west of the Rocky 




^=^P^-_ 



OUR COUNTRY IN I750. 
15 



i6 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

Mountains; France claimed Canada and the vast region 
between the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies; 
and England claimed a wide strip of land extending 
from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida, and running 
straight through the territories of France and Spain, as 
far west as the Pacific Ocean. 

Now Spain did not fear England's pretensions in the 
least. The Pacific slope was an unknown region beyond 
the Rocky Mountains, and no one dreamed that an Eng- 
lishman would ever cross the trackless wilderness and 
climb those dizzy heights. But France knew very well 
that whenever the thirteen colonies along the Atlantic 
coast became densely settled, the English would try to 
seize the fertile valley of the Ohio. And so, while 
English colonists were cultivating farms and building 
towns east of the Alleghany Mountains, French soldiers 
were setting up a strong line of forts west of them. 

At last, some English traders ventured across the 
mountains. They built rude huts, and were laying the 
foundations of a fort, where the city of Pittsburg now 
stands, when a company of French soldiers attacked 
them and drove them away. 

"Such impudence must be punished immediately," 



THE COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA. 17 

said the English ; and General Braddock, with an army of 
British regulars, was sent to recover the fort. He met 
with sore defeat at the hands of the French and Indians, 
and but for George Washington, a young lieutenant of 
Virginia, the army would have been wholly destroyed. 

Thus a long war began between England and France. 
The English conquered Canada, and because Spain had 
helped France in some European wars, they also seized 
the Spanish island of Cuba. 

In 1763, envoys from France, England, and Spain 
met at Paris to sign a treaty of peace. They were very 
polite to one another, and took a great deal of snuff, after 
the fashion of the time ; but, for all that, each envoy was 
determined to get the best terms for his king that he could. 

In the end, the map of the New "World was greatly 
altered. England had exchanged Cuba for Florida, 
while France had ceded Canada and the country between 
the Mississippi River and the Alleghany Mountains 
to England, and all west of the Mississippi to Spain. 

This treaty of Paris gave to England and Spain 
the exclusive ownership of North America. There was 
not a foot of the land which the French could call their 
own. 



i8 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

The king of France grieved over the loss of his 
possessions. He said he hoped the thirteen colonies 
would prove so unruly that the English king would 
wish the French back in Canada to help keep them in 
subjection. 

Now, if George III. of England had proved to be 
a good and worthy king, perhaps this hope would never 
have been realized. At the begin- 
ning of his reign, his colonies were 
prosperous and contented. They cele- 
brated his birthdays, set up his 
statues in public parks, and offered 
^^ prayers for the members of the royal 
family. But, after a time, he began 

GEORGE III. 

to oppress them by levying unjust 
taxes, and when they refused to pay the taxes he sent 
an army to punish them. 

The Americans then resolved to fight for their 
rights. In 1775, delegates from the thirteen colonies 
met at Philadelphia in a Continental Congress. They 
called for troops and elected George Washington com- 
mander-in-chief of the army. 

Of course, all the monarchs in Europe were anxious 




THE COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA. 19 

to see how this quarrel , between George III. and his 
colonies would end. The French king was more 
interested than any other. Some people said he would 
equip a fleet to aid the Americans; yet he was in no 
haste to adopt such a bold policy as that. 

"It would not be wise," he said, "to try to assist 
those who are too weak to assist themselves;" and he 
waited to see what George Washington, at the head 
of the Continental troops, would do. 

But one of his courtiers, the Marquis de Lafayette, 
was not willing to stand idly waiting while the Amer- 
icans were fighting for their liberties. He said to 
his friends: "Let us join these patriots in their 
struggle against the tyranny of an unjust king. We 
may be defeated; but we shall have the satisfaction 
of knowing that we have fought on the side of justice 
and the right. ' ' 

In the following pages you may read of some 
of the events in the life of this young French 
nobleman, who helped to secure the independence 
of the American Colonies, and afterwards laid 
the first cornerstone of the present republic of 
France. 



20 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

11. — The Young Marquis. 

The chateau of Chavaniac was in the province of 
Auvergne, in the south part of France. It was a lofty 
castle, with towers and narrow windows from which 




%^^^''':i''=jzr^'^ 



CHATEAU DE CHAVANIAC, LAFAYETTE'S BIRTHPLACE. 

cannon once frowned down upon besieging foes. 
There was a deep moat around it, with a bridge 
which was drawn up in time of war, so that no man, 
on horseback or on foot, could pass in at the gate with- 
out permission of the guard. 

Low hills, crowned with vine3^ards, stood near the 



THE YOUNG MARQUIS. 21 

castle, and beyond the hills stretched mountains 
whose peaks seemed to pierce the sky. In all France 
there was not a more charming spot than Chavaniac; 
and among all the nobles of the court there was no 
braver man than its master, the Marquis de Lafayette. 

Sometimes the king left the pleasures of his palace 
to spend a day at this castle ; and whenever the young 
marquis and his beautiful bride went to Paris, they 
were treated with the greatest respect. ' 

One day, the drawbridge was let down over the 
moat, and the gallant marquis rode away to the war 
in Germany. After taking part in several engage- 
ments, he was shot through the heart in a skirmish 
at Minden. His comrades buried him on the field. 
The drums were muffled, the band played a funeral 
dirge, and three rounds of musketry announced that 
the hero's body had been lowered into the grave. 

When swift couriers carried the news of his death to 
Chavaniac, the sorrow of his family and friends was 
most grievous to see. The castle was like a tomb; 
the rooms were darkened; and the servants, clad in 
black, went about on tiptoe, scarcely daring to whisper 
to one another. 



22 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

In the midst of this mourning, on September 6, 
1757, the only son of the dead marquis was born. 

The little orphan was carried to the chapel and 
christened Marie Jean Paul Roche Yves Gilbert Motier 
de Lafayette. That seemed a very long name, indeed, 
for the tiny baby lying so quietly in the good priest's 
arms; but it was the custom in France to remember 
distinguished ancestors at a christening, and there 
were so many of these that the loving mother really 
thought the name should be longer than it was. She 
said that his everyday name should be Gilbert. 

When Gilbert was old enough, she walked with 
him instead of leaving him to the care of servants. 
Sometimes they climbed a high hill to see the sun set 
over the towers of the chateau. Then she told him 
how the de Lafayette s, long before Columbus discovered 
America, had driven the Arabs from France, and how 
they had helped to banish the English kings from 
France, and how his own father had died for the glory 
of France. 

Sometimes, as they walked through the halls of the 
castle, she showed him the coats-of-mail which his 
ancestors had worn, and she told him about the swords 



THE YOUNG MARQUIS. 23 

and banners and other trophies which the de Lafayettes 
had won in battle. 

"I would not have yon less brave than they, my 
son," she would say. 

The boy longed for the time to come when he 
might show his mother how very brave he was. He 
grew tall and strong, and carried himself like a prince. 
He wanted to be worthy of his great ancestors. 

The year he was eight, there was much excitement 
about a wolf which prowled in the forest, killing the 
sheep in the pastures and frightening the peasants 
nearly out of their wits. Gilbert made this wolf the 
object of all his walks. He would persuade his mother 
to sit in some shady spot while he should go a little 
way into the forest. 

"I will return in an instant, dear mamma," he 
always said; and, lest he might alarm her, he walked 
quite slowly until a turn in the road hid him from 
view. Then he marched quickly into the dark 
wood. 

He did this for many days, seeing only frisking 
squirrels and harmless rabbits. But one morning, as 
he sped along a narrow path, his eyes wide open and 



24 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

his ears alert to catch every sound, he heard a cracking 
in the underbrnsh. 

The wolf was coming! He was sure of it. His 
mind was made up in an instant. He would spring 
forward quicker than lightning, and blind it with 
his coat, while with his arms he would choke it to 
death. 

"It will struggle hard," he thought. "Its feet 
will scratch me; but I shall not mind, and, when all is 
over, I shall drag it to the feet of mamma, and she 
will know, and the peasants will know, that I can rid 
the country of these pests. ' ' 

He stood listening. His breath came fast. Again 
he heard the breaking of the bushes. "I ought first to 
surprise the beast by coming up on it quickly," he 
whispered. 

He tore off his coat, and held it firmly as he hurried 
on. Soon he saw the shaggy hide, and the great eyes 
shining through the thicket. He leaped forward with 
outstretched coat, and — what do you think? — he clasped 
in his arms a calf that had strayed from the barnyard! 

It was a rude shock to the boy. He returned to 
his mother, who was already alarmed at his absence, 



THE COURTIER. 25 

and confessed that he had tried to kill the wolf but had 
found only a calf. 

"Ah, you were brave, my son," she said; "I am 
quite sure that you would have ended the days of that 
terrible wolf had he but given you the chance." 



III. — The Courtier. 

When Gilbert was twelve years old, he was sent 
to school at Paris. His teachers knew how the king 
had loved his father, and they were very kind, although 
they did not always give him his own way. 

Once, when a prize was offered for the best essay 
on "A Perfect Horse," he tried to excel. He described 
a beautiful animal. Its eyes were large and intelli- 
gent, and its nostrils trembled with desire to speed 
away at the first word of its rider ; but when the master, 
instead of speaking gently, raised a whip to strike it, 
the horse threw him to the ground. 

The teacher said that a perfect horse should have 
been better trained, and gave the prize to a boy whose 
horse endured the lash of an unjust master. 



26 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



"I'd rather lose the prize than describe a horse 
that would tamely submit to injustice," wrote Gilbert 
to his mother. 

He received many letters from his mother telling 
him how she loved him and how sure she was that he 

would always do his duty. 

One week no letter came ; 
but, instead, the family car- 
riage drew up at the gate of 
the school. The coachman 
and footman on the box 
looked very sad, and his old 
nurse sat within, crying. She 
told him his mother was so 
ill that he must hasten home. 
His dear mother died. A 
few weeks later, his grandfather also died, and he was 
left sole master of Chavaniac. He was called the 
*'Marquis de Lafayette," and the peasants knelt humbly 
by the roadside whenever he passed. The king soon 
sent for him to appear at court, and, when he saw 
what a fine, manly fellow the young marquis was, he 
made him a page to the queen. 




THE COURTIER. 27 

A few years later, Lafayette became a member of 
the Royal Guards, and, just about that time, he married 
the daughter of a powerful duke. 

When the old king of France died in 1774, Louis 
XVL and Marie Antoinette were crowned with much 
pomp. The young queen was beautiful and gay. 
The king loved her so dearly that he tried in every 
way to make her happy. If she wearied of one palace, 
he called his courtiers together, and, on horseback and 
in carriages and sedan chairs, they went to another. 

His favorite palace was at Versailles, a few miles 
from Paris. It was in a splendid park, where fountains 
played and birds sang all day long. 

One room in this palace was so large that hun- 
dreds of people could dance together in it; and its 
walls were lined with mirrors in which the lords and 
ladies might see themselves as they smiled and bowed 
and danced. 

The queen once gave a masquerade ball in this 
mirror room. The Marquis de Lafayette was there, 
with his wife. He was dressed in a coat-of-mail 
which his great-great-grandfather had worn in a war 
with the Turks. 



28 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

He was tall, and his face was very pleasant, with 
its hig-h forehead and clear brown eyes. As he walked 
down the long room, his wife said to herself: "He is 
just like a knight of the olden time!" She smiled 
when she saw him glance into the mirrors. She thought 
he was a little vain of his good looks. 

But the young marquis hardly noticed himself. 
He was gazing at the shining armor and wondering if 
he would ever have a chance to fight in a just cause, 
as his great-great-grandfather had done. 



IV. — The Dinner Party. 

The Marquis de Lafayette soon tired of the idle 
life at Versailles, and, in 1776, when he was just nine- 
teen years old, he went to Metz, a town then in France, 
as captain of an artillery company. 

He was a born soldier. He loved to hear the 
boom of cannon and the rattle of muskets on the drill 
ground. The very first time he called off orders to 
his men, he felt that, if he were only in battle, he 
could add some glory to his already famous name. 



THE DINNER PARTY . 29 

But he said to himself: "Kings make war for 
conquest. I wish that I might enlist my arms for a 
more worthy object." 

That same year an English nobleman, the royal 
Duke of Gloucester, chanced to visit Metz. He had dis- 
pleased his brother, King George HL, and for that 
reason had been banished from England. 

The commandant of the garrison gave a dinner- 
party in honor of the royal guest. 

Lafayette and the other French officers were in 
full uniform; but the Duke of Gloucester was the 
most splendid of all who sat about the table. There 
was much laughing and drinking of toasts and speech- 
making, until a guard announced that a messenger was 
at the door with despatches for his royal highness. 

"Ah, news from England!" exclaimed the duke. 

"Show the man in," ordered the commandant. 

A courier, with dust on his garments, entered the 
room, and, bowing low, delivered a bundle of letters. 

"I beg your Highness to read without ceremony," 
said the commandant. 

The duke glanced over the papers for some time 
in silence. He looked grave. At last, he said: "My 



30 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

courier has brought despatches about our colonies in 
America. ' ' 

"Ah," said one; "are the colonies acting badly?" 
"Yes, they demand to vote their own taxes." 
"How absurd! Why, the people in France do not 
vote their own taxes. ' ' 

"You must know," said the duke, "that many years 
ago, one of the kings of England gave a charter to our 
people which granted them the right to impose their 
own taxes. They now elect representatives to a par- 
liament, where they decide how much money should be 
used by the government. Sometimes, when the king 
asks for more money than he really needs, they refuse 
to increase the taxes ; but they are usually quite willing 
to pay whatever he asks. ' ' 

"What do these Americans complain of, then?" 
asked Lafayette. 

"Taxation without representation," answered the 
duke. "They insist that, as loyal subjects, they should 
be allowed either to send representatives to our Parlia- 
ment, or to have a Parliament of their own. Neither 
privilege has been granted. Our Parliament imposes 
taxes on them, and, when they refuse to pay the 



THE DINNER PARTY. 



31 



taxes, the king sends an army to force them to do so. 
These despatches inform me that the rebels have 
driven our troops out of a town called Boston, and that 
delegates from the thirteen colonies have met at another 
town called Philadelphia and adopted a declaration of 
independence." 

"The rabble!" cried one of the French 
officers. 

"Your fine troops will soon crush the 
rascals," cried another. 

"My brother, the king, is stubborn," 
said the duke, with a smile. "He ban- 
ished me, gentlemen, because I disobeyed 
him. He will conquer these disobedient 
colonies; but, since our common people are not will- 
ing to fight their cousins, he has hired Hessians from 
Germany to help our soldiers." 

"What, your highness!" exclaimed Lafayette, who 
could hardly believe that he had heard aright. 

"Yes, many thousand Hessians are now on their 
way across the sea. ' * 

Lafayette thought it was cruel for a king to send 
a foreign army against his own subjects ; but he remem- 




A BRITISH 
SOLDIER. 



32 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

bered that the English king was the duke's brother, 
and he said nothing in reply. 

"I am not so sure, gentlemen," said the duke, 
after a pause; "I am not so sure but the Americans 
are in the right. They are fighting as freeborn 
Englishmen." 

"The Americans are in the right," said Lafayette 
to himself; and, while the other officers were making 
merry about many things, he was silent. As soon as 
he could do so, he excused himself from the table. 
He hastened to his room and locked the door. 

*'This is, indeed, the hour I have sought," he 
murmured. 

He sat down to think, and then he arose and paced 
the floor until it was almost morning. When, at last, 
he threw himself on the bed to sleep, he had resoWed 
to leave the pleasures of rank and fortune, and even to 
separate, for a time, from the wife he loved, that he 
might use his sword in the defense of liberty. 



V. — The Departure for America. 
As soon as the young captain of artillery could get 
leave of absence from duty at Metz, he hastened to 



THE DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. 33 

Paris. Here he found everybody talking of England's 
war with her colonies. 

Now, the French people hardly knew whether Bos- 
ton was the name of a town or of a whole state ; but they 
were so delighted because the haughty English generals 
had been defeated there that they had "Boston" whist, 
and "Boston" tea, and "Boston" snuff. 

Lafayette sought out some American agents who 
were buying arms secretly, and the more he heard 
about the unjust taxes, the more determined he was 
to help the patriots resist them. 

His father-in-law opposed his plans; but, to 
strengthen his resolution, Lafayette adopted the 
motto, ''C7ir nonf* which means "Why not?" ''Ctir 
fioii?" he said, when he saw his wife in tears. 
''Cur nonf he would say again, when his baby girl 
stretched out her tiny arms as if to hold him back. 
With Baron de Kalb, an officer who had been in 
America, he organized a Boston club, to talk about 
raising an army. 

When Louis XVL heard this, he was displeased. 
He said that if any French noblemen joined the rebels 
it might cause England to declare war against France. 



34 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



Late in the fall, news came of a battle on Long 
Island, in which the patriots were badly defeated. 

"You see," said the king; "those Americans are 
only a mob. They will soon be disarmed;" and he 
forbade the meetings of the Boston club. 

''Cur no7i?'' said Lafayette; 
and the meetings were held 
secretly. 

About this time, the Ameri- 
can Congress sent Silas Deane, 
of Connecticut, to France, to 
seek aid; and Lafayette asked 
De Kalb to go with him to 
visit the envoy. When the 
two men met, they shook hands; but, as neither under- 
stood the language of the other, they said nothing. 

De Kalb, who could speak both English and French, 
told Silas Deane that the Marquis de Lafayette wished 
to join the American army. 

"We have no money to pay our officers," said 
Deane. 

"I will serve without money," repeated De Kalb 
after Lafayette. 




BARON DE KALB. 



THE DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA. 35 

"We have no ship to carry you and your men," said 
Deane. 

*'I will buy a ship," was the answer. 

Still, the American hesitated to accept the services 
of such a boyish-looking officer. 

Then the modest Lafayette 
would have blushed if he had 
understood what his friend said 
in his behalf. De Kalb told of 
his wealth and rank, and explained 
what a powerful ally he might be- 

SILAS DEANE. 

come. 

In the end, Silas Deane gave Lafayette a contract 
to sign, in which Lafayette, promised to serve in the 
army of the United States whenever he was wanted. 

When the venerable Benjamin Franklin came to 
Paris, Lafayette was among the first to greet him. He 
was enchanted with- the famous philosopher, whose 
simple manners and plain dress befitted well the herald 
of a republic. 

"Now, indeed, is our time of need," said Franklin. 

Lafayette waited to hear no more. He bought a 
ship, and ordered it to be equipped for the long voyage. 




2,6 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

While the ship was being made ready, he visited 
England, where his tincle was the French ambassador. 
George III. feared that Louis XVI. would aid the 
Americans in their rebellion, and tried to be friendly 
to France. Lafayette was treated with distinction 
at court. 

He met some English officers who were just ready 
to start for America, and was invited to Portsmouth 
to see the ships set sail with troops; but he refused 
to go. 

'*! cannot be a hypocrite," he said to himself; **I 
shall soon have my own ship launched for America." 

While at Lord Rawdon's, who had just returned 
from New York, he heard how General Washington, 
on a Christmas night (1776), had captured the Hessians 
at Trenton. He expressed such delight over the news 
as to arouse suspicion, and, when he found that his 
movements were watched, he returned to Paris secretly. 

The ship was not yet ready. Meantime, George III. 
heard about his plans, and wrote to Louis XVI. 
against the expedition; but, when the letter reached 
Paris, Lafayette, with De Kalb and eleven other offi- 
cers, had already set out on his journey. 



WASHINGTON'S AIDE-DE-CAMP. 37 

King Louis sent messengers in pursuit, and then 
Lafayette disguised himself as a courier, and galloped 
ahead of his friends to order the relays of horses. 
In one town, during a wait of three hours, he lay 
concealed in the straw of a stable. In another town, 
when he was recognized by the innkeeper's daughter, 
he made her a sign to be silent just as the pursuers rode 
up to the door, and she sent them away by a different 
road. 

At last, he reached Pasages, on the Spanish coast, 
where his good ship Victory was anchored. And, 
when the king's messengers arrived at the edge of 
the water, all covered with the dust of their swift pur- 
suit, the sails were already spread, and the Marquis de 
Lafayette was on his way to America, 



VI. — Washington's Aide-de-Camp. 

The voyage across the ocean was stormy and long. 
Lafayette spent most of the time trying to learn to 
speak English. 

The Victory cast anchor near Charleston, South 



38 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

Carolina, and the party landed about midnight. As 
Lafayette and De Kalb stood on the beach, they clasped 
each other's hands, and, looking up to the stars, 
vowed they would conquer for liberty or die on foreign 
soil. 

They found shelter at a farmhouse, and, on the 
following day, proceeded to Charleston. Here Lafay- 
ette purchased carriages and horses to ride nine hun- 
dred miles to Philadelphia, where the Continental 
Congress was in session. When the carriages broke 
down because of the bad roads, the officers mounted 
the horses and continued their journey. 

Lafayette could not talk much with the people 
whom he met, but he soon saw that America was quite 
different from France. There were no beggars lying 
by the roadside; the farmers did not kneel when fine 
carriages passed, and one man really seemed to be just 
about as respectable as another. 

"I am more determined than ever," he said to De 
Kalb, "to help these people preserve the liberties they 
have enjoyed." 

He reached Philadelphia on July 27, 1777. 

Now, King Louis had directed Franklin to write 



WASHINGTON'S AIDE-DE-CAMP. 39 

to the Congress requesting it not to give Lafayette a 
commission in the army; but the shrewd envoy had 
taken no pains to hurry his letter, and, as it had not 
been received, Lafayette was given the rank of major 
general. 

The outlook for the Americans was not very 
encouraging. Washington had 
retreated from New York, and 
the British general. Sir William 
Howe, was preparing to attack 
Philadelphia. 

Lafayette first met Washing- 
ton in the Quaker City, and knew 
him at once by his noble face. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

He had a talk with the comman- 
der, who took him to inspect some fortifications, and 
invited him to cross the Delaware to see his 
army. 

When Lafayette arrived at the camp in New Jersey, 
the troops were on the drill-ground. Many of them 
were ragged and barefooted. Even the officers lacked 
suitable uniforms, and the guns were of all shapes and 
sizes. 




40 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

"We should be embarrassed at thus showing our- 
selves to a French officer," said Washington. 

"Ah!" replied Lafayette, with tears in his eyes; 
"men who fight for liberty against such odds will be 
sure to win." 

Washington was so pleased with the modest zeal of 
the young marquis that he made him one of his aides- 
de-camp. Lafayette was then just 
twenty years old. 

Another aide of about his 
age was Alexander Hamilton. 
Hamilton spoke French almost 
as well as Lafayette, and the two 
officers became devoted friends. 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, General Howe sailed up Chesa- 

peake Bay, and, landing, marched to attack Philadel- 
phia. Washington, with his army, went to meet him, 
and there was a terrible battle near Brandywine Creek. 
Lafayette was in the thickest of the fight until he 
was forced to fall back on account of having received 
a musket ball in the calf of his leg. 

"Take care of the marquis as though he were my 
own son," said Washington to the surgeon. 




WASHINGTON'S AIDE-DE-CAMP. 41 

The Americans were badly defeated at Brandy- 
wine, because the British were better disciplined, and 
had superior arms. Washington retreated, and Phila- 
delphia was taken. 

His wound confined Lafayette to his bed for six 
weeks. During this period of idleness he spent much 
of the time -writing letters to his wife. 

"Now that you are the wife of an American gen- 
eral," he wrote, "I must give you a lesson. People 
in France will say, 'They have been beaten.' You 
must answer, *It is true; but with two armies, equal 
in number and on level ground, old soldiers always 
have an advantage over new ones ; besides, the Ameri- 
cans inflicted a greater loss than they sustained.* 

"Then people will say, 'That's all very well, but 
Philadelphia, the capital of the colonies, is taken.* 
You will reply, politely, 'You are foolish; Phila- 
delphia is a poor city, open to the enemy on all sides. ' ' ' 

The devoted little wife repeated these words 
at court, and thus helped the American cause in 
France. 

When Lafayette was again able to mount a horse, 
he led an expedition against a post of the Hessians 



42 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

with such skill that he was given command of the 
Virginia militia. 

After some battles around Philadelphia, Washington 
made his winter quarters at Valley Forge, about twenty- 
miles away; and, while the British were enjoying 
themselves in the best houses of the Quaker City, the 
Americans suffered great privations in tents and rude 
cabins. 

This was in the winter of 1777. The weather was 
very severe. Some of the soldiers were without shoes, 
and their feet bled as they walked over the frozen 
ground; yet, all through the stormy days, the little 
army drilled and worked on the fortifications, while, 
at night, those without blankets sat around the camp 
fires to keep from freezing to death. Lafayette, who 
had been used to luxuries all his life, willingly shared 
these hardships, and went limping about from tent to 
tent with a pleasant word for everybody. 

Meantime, a British general. Sir John Burgoyne, 
having attempted to invade New York from Canada, 
was forced to surrender his whole army to General 
Gates, at Saratoga. 

"You see," said some of the American generals. 



WASHINGTON'S AIDE-DE-CAMP. 43 



who were jealous of Washington, "the army in the 
North is successful; but just look at the army in the 
South! It has lost Philadelphia, and is only freezing 
to death at Valley Forge. " 




WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. 

These jealous generals plotted to remove Wash- 
ington from command, and tried in every way to induce 
Lafayette to favor their evil designs. One night, they 
invited him to a dinner. After toasts were offered in 
honor of several officers, Lafayette was grieved to 



44 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

note that the name of Washington had been omitted. 
He arose to his feet. 
sj ** Gentlemen," he cried, "I drink to the health of 

George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Amer- 
ican armies!" 

The toast was honored in silence. The treacherous 
men saw plainly enough that the Marquis de Lafayette 
would never join in a plot against his general. 



VII. — Louis XVI. Promises a Fleet. 

Now, all this time, Benjamin Franklin was at 
Paris, working for the colonies. He found that very 
many of the French people wanted to aid in the war 
against England. 

The noblemen said: *' England robbed us of our 
colonies, we should now seek revenge." 

The manufacturers and shopkeepers said: "England 
never allowed the Americans to buy goods directly from 
us, and, if we help them win their liberty, we shall 
get most of their trade." 

The wretched peasants did not understand what 



LOUIS XVI. PROMISES A FLEET. 



45 



liberty meant, but they knew all about unjust taxes, 
and were glad the Americans were refusing to pay them. 

But the French king hesitated to send his armies 
across the sea. He did not believe that the Americans 
were strong enough to win a 
single great battle. 

"As for helping King 
George's subjects set up a 
republic," he said, "that 
would be a dangerous experi- 
ment which my own subjects 
might wish to try. ' ' 

Franklin despaired of se- 
curing aid from France. One 
day, as he sat alone, won- 
dering what plan he must next pursue, an American 
courier arrived from Boston. Franklin met him at the 
door. 

"Sir," he asked, without waiting for the man to 
speak, "is Philadelphia captured?" 

' ' It is, sir, ' ' answered the courier. 

Franklin turned sadly away. All seemed lost. 

"But, sir, I have better news than that!" exclaimed 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



46 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

the courier, and he showed despatches from Congress 
which told of the battle of Saratoga, and of Burgoyne's 
surrender of six thousand men. 

Franklin was overjoyed, and hastened to court with 
the news. 

"Really," said the king to himself, "this is the 
time to give John Bull a fine dose of bitters; these 
rebels may yet become a great nation." And so he 
acknowledged the independence of the United States, 
and promised to send a fleet to America. 



VIII. — The Furlough. 

Lafayette was delighted when he learned that his 
king had recognized the independence of the United 
States and had concluded a treaty of alliance. 

The event was celebrated on a May day with a 
grand parade at Valley Forge. There was a salute of 
thirteen cannon, followed by a volley of musketry, and 
then the army, drawn tip in two lines, shouted: "Long 
live the king of France!" and gave loud huzzas for the 
new American States. 



• THE FURLOUGH. 47 

A few days later, Lafayette had occasion to show 
his skill. It happened in this way : 

Washington had sent him, with two thousand 
men, to occupy Barren Hill, half-way between Valley 
Forge and Philadelphia, and he was directed to fall on 
the rear of the British if they should attempt to leave 
the city. He had hardly chosen the camp, near a stone 
church, with the Schuylkill River on one side and a 
wood on the other, when spies reported his arrival. 
The British general, who was attending a grand military 
ball at Philadelphia, laughed aloud at the news. 

''Ha, ha! He, he!" he laughed. ''That will 
make a fine close for our dance." And he went about, 
saying to the ladies: "I invite you to my house on 
to-morrow night to meet the Marquis de Lafayette." 

Before daylight, nine thousand red-coats were on 
the march. One division was sent round by a circuitous 
route to cut off retreat to Valley Forge, while two 
other divisions approached Barren Hill. 

"The little French boy is in a trap," chuckled the 
British general, as he pushed his way through the mists 
of the early dawn. 

Meantime, scouts brought word to the camp that 



48 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

the ''Bloody Backs" were coming. The patriots were 
in a panic. They ran hither and thither, crying, "All 
is lost! We cannot escape!" 

Lafayette perceived the danger; but he calmed their 
fears with a jaunty air, and smilingly said: "We will 
now lead the British a livelier dance than they had last 
night!" 

He had studied the ground and discovered a ford 
which the enemy knew nothing about. He laid his 
plans well. He boldly advanced a few columns as if to 
give battle, and, while the red-coats were preparing to 
attack them, he hurried the rest of the army across the 
ford; then he quietly withdrew those who were in the 
pretended line of battle, and, when the British charged 
up Barren Hill from opposite sides, they only met one 
another! 

The affair was so very ludicrous that, when the nine 
thousand marched back to Philadelphia, they were the 
sport of everybody. 

The British general, hearing that King Louis was 
sending over a fleet, abandoned the Quaker City. 
Washington pursued him across New Jersey, and there 
was a hard-fought battle at Monmouth. In this battle, 



THE FURLOUGH. 49 

Lafayette bore himself heroically all day long, and, when 
night came, with the victory undecided, he slept on the 
field by the side of Washington. 

The enemy retreated to New York, and Washing- 
ton stretched his lines from Morristown, New Jersey, 
to West Point, on the Hudson. 

While the patriots thus kept watch of New York, 
Lafayette was granted a furlough. It was thought 
that he might obtain more aid from France. When 
he reached Paris, he was placed under arrest; for 
King Louis had once promised the English ambassador 
to put the bold young- marquis in prison if he should 
ever return. 

And what do you think his prison was? 

It was the house of his own family, and the chains 
that were bound tightly around his neck were the arms 
of his loving wife. 

He was forbidden to enter the king's presence 
for a week as penance for having disobeyed royal 
orders; but, at the end of that time, he was again 
restored to his old place of honor. It is said that the 
queen and every lady of the court kissed him on both 
cheeks. 



50 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE*. 




Lafayette turned this whirlwind of favor to the 
advantage of the patriots. He said that no European 
army would suffer the tenth part of what the American 
troops did, and boldly declared that the cost 
of a single royal ball would equip the whole 
army. 

He talked much about Washington. 
"Do you know, Doctor," said the queen 
one day to Franklin, "that Lafayette has 
really made me in love with your General 
Washington? What a man he must be!" 

When, at last, Lafayette was ready to 
return to America, he went in the uniform 
of an American general to bid the king 
good-bye. At his side hung a sword, with 
handle of gold and blade of steel, engraved 
with his arms and his motto, Ciir noii? It 
had been presented to him by Franklin in 
the name of the American Congress. 

When he landed at Boston, the bells of the 
churches rang a welcome, while the citizens marched 
in line to escort him to General Hancock's house on 
Beacon Hill. 



LAFA- 
YETTE'S 
SWORD. 



THE VICTORY AT YORKTOWN. 51 

As soon as he could do so, Lafayette went to army 
headquarters on the Hudson. ^ There Washington 
greeted him as if he had been his own son; but he 
looked anxious and sad. 

"Alas, my boy," he said, '* there is bad news for 
you. We have been defeated in the South. Our con- 
tinental money is so counterfeited by the enemy that 
it is almost worthless, and our sick and starving sol- 
diers are without supplies." 

'*Ah ! " cried Lafayette, with a joyous laugh, "I 
have remembered my general during my absence.- 
There are six thousand land troops, under Rochambeau, 
now on the way, and money, and clothing, and arms." 



IX. — The Victory at Yorktown. 

Not long after Lafayette's return, he went with 
Washington to inspect the fortifications at West Point. 
While they were there, Washington discovered that 
Benedict Arnold, the commander of the fort, had been 
bribed to betray it to the British. 

West Point was saved; but Arnold, the traitor, 




52 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

escaped to a British ship, and enlisted in the service of 
the enemy. This was in September, 1780. 

A few months later, Arnold led a British army into 
Virginia, and Lafayette was ordered 
south to attack him. 

"Look before you leap," were 
Washington's parting words. 

Lafayette remembered the warn- 
ing, and moved forward with caution. 
At Baltimore, he borrowed ten 
thousand dollars from some merchants to supply his 
men with shoes and hats, and to buy the linen which 
the women of the city made into summer garments. 

Then he marched to Richmond, Virginia. Arnold 
soon sent a letter to the camp about an exchange of 
prisoners. Lafayette said to the messenger: "I will 
answer the letter of any British officer; but I will not 
even read a letter from Benedict Arnold, the traitor." 

A few days later, the British general, Cornwallis, 
took command of Arnold's troops. 

"The Frenchman cannot escape me!" he said. 
The youthful major general warily avoided an 
engagement with Cornwallis. He joined his forces 




THE VICTORY AT YORKTOWN. 53 

with those of Anthony Wayne, and followed the British 
at a distance. 

Some of the best young- men of Virginia and Mary- 
land had hesitated to take up arms 
against the king; but, when they 
saw the skill and courage of this 
stranger, they mounted their own 
horses and joined his ranks. Thus 
Lafayette's army kept daily increas- 

l^gf- GENERAL ANTHONY 

WAYNE. 

Now, just at this time, all Europe 
was awaiting events on two rivers in America. The 
Hudson, in the North, lay between Clinton and Wash- 
ington ; and the James, in the South, held on its banks 
the opposing armies of Cornwallis and Lafayette. 

*' Whose army will conquer?" was a question which 
King George and King Louis anxiously asked. 

It was not long before they had an answer. 

Cornwallis threw tip fortifications at Yorktown, 
and moved his camp there. Then, Washington and 
Lafayette agreed to unite their armies to attack 
him. 

Soon a French fleet, under Count de Grasse, moved 



54 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



up Chesapeake Bay, and anchored before Yorktown, 
Lafayette and Wayne marched nearer and nearer, 
until Cornwallis was surrounded by land and 
sea. 

De Grasse urged Lafayette to make the attack at 
once. It was a temptation for the 
young major general. He knew 
that Europe would ring with his 
name if he should win the victory 
alone; but, when he thought of 
the patient commander in the 
North, who had borne the bur- 
dens of the long war, he said to 
De Grasse: "No, if we strike the 
enemy now, our losses will be too great. I shall await 
the arrival of Washington, To him alone should belong 
the honor of giving Cornwallis this final blow." 

Meanwhile, Washington left the Hudson. Rocham- 
beau, with the French troops, joined him, and together 
they marched to the South. When the united armies, 
under the command of Washington, stood in front 
of Yorktown, Lafayette's division was the first to storm 
the redoubts. 




LORD CORNWALLIS. 



THE VICTORY AT YORKTOWN. 55 

Cornwallis surrendered October 19, 1781; this ended 
the war, and America was free. 

Lafayette received a leave of absence to return to 
France. When he reached Versailles and found that his 
wife was attending a ball at the palace, he sent her a 
message. The tidings of his arrival ended the dancing. 
Everybody stopped to tell everybody else that the Mar- 
quis de Lafayette had returned from America; and the 
queen called her own carriage to accompany the happy 
wife home. 

Honors were showered on the hero ; but he modestly 
declared that most of the credit of victory belonged to 
Washington. Whenever he dined with the French 
officers, he proposed a toast to the health of Washing, 
ton, and when his son was born, he named him George 
Washington. After the treaty of peace between Eng- 
land and America had been signed, he wrote to Wash- 
ington: "As for you, my dear general, who can truly 
say that all this is your work, what must be your 
feelings ! ' ' 

Later, he wrote: ''The eternal honor in which 
my descendants will glory will be to have had an 
ancestor among your soldiers." 



56 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 
X. — A Visit to Mount Vernon. 



In 1784, Lafayette visited Washington at Mount 
Vernon. The two friends spent ma,ny happy daj^s 
together. They rode after the hounds, or walked on 

the banks of the Poto- 
mac River, or sat in the 
library musing over the 
battles they had fought 
for liberty. They talked 
much about the thirteen 
new states, which had 




.^-"iii' 



MOUNT VERNON. 



not yet formed a permanent union. 

"There are three things I wish," said Lafayette; 
"first, that France and America form an alliance; second, 
that the thirteen colonies be united under one govern- 
ment; and third, that the slaves in the colonies 
be freed." 

Washington agreed with Lafayette about all these 
measures. The two visited the battlefields of the 
South, and lingered at the grave of De Kalb, who had 
fallen at Camden, in South Carolina. 

When, at last, Lafayette started north to resign 



A VISIT TO MOUNT VERNON. 57 

his commission, Washington accompanied him as far 
as Annapolis. On returning to Mount Vernon, he 
hastened to write: "In the moment of our separation 
and every hour since, I have felt all that love, respect 
and attachment for 3^ou with which length of years 
and your merits have inspired me. I often asked 
myself, as our carriages separated, whether that was 
the last sight I ever should have of you." 

It was, indeed, the last time they met on earth. 
Lafayette returned home. He was kept busy for years 
by important events, and when he again visited America 
the noble Washington was in his grave. 

Perhaps the best service of Lafayette to our country 
was the good name he gave it in Europe. He also did 
what he could to improve our trade by finding new 
markets for our products. 

The fishermen of Nantucket were so grateful for 
his help in the whaling industry that they held a public 
meeting. Every man present promised two milkings 
from his cow to make a cheese. Barrels of milk were 
accordingly collected, and a great round cheese, weighing 
five hundred pounds, was made ; and one day it arrived 
at Chavaniac, not a whit the less fragrant for its long 



58 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



voyage across the sea. The planters of Virginia were 
so much pleased with Lafayette's efforts in behalf of 
the tobacco trade, that they ordered Houdon, the sculp- 
tor, to make two marble busts of him. One was placed 
in the capitol at Richmond, and 
the other was presented to the 
city of Paris. 

Now, the kings of Europe 
did not like the new ideas about 
liberty which had spread over the 
world after the American revo- 
lution. Frederick the Great, of 
Priissia, invited the Marquis de 
Lafayette to his court for a visit. In one of their 
talks, King Frederick said: "By and by, the United 
States will return to the good old system of monarchy." 
"Never, sire, never," replied Lafayette; "neither 
monarchy nor aristocracy can ever exist in America." 

"Sir," said Frederick, with a penetrating look, "I 
knew a young man who, after he had visited countries 
where liberty and equality reigned, conceived the idea 
of establishing the same system in his own country. Do 
you know what -happened to him?" 




FREDERICK THE GREAT, 



THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. 59 

"No, sire." 
"He was hanged." 

Lafayette looked up with a calm smile ; but he did 
not betray to the anxious king what his thoughts were. 



XL — The National Assembly. 

It was, indeed, time for the monarchs of Europe 
to be concerned about the safety of their thrones. 
Nowhere was the danger greater than in France. 

While King Louis had been helping King George's 
subjects, his own subjects were suffering. They were 
grievously taxed to support the splendor of the king 
and his nobles. Whole counties were reduced to 
starvation, and thousands of wretched creatures wan- 
dered over the kingdom, begging or robbing as they 
went. 

Louis XVI. saw little of all this misery. He was 
happy himself, and he wondered why everybody else 
was not happy. If he chanced to see a pallid face 
through the window of his coach, he said: "That poor 
fellow is ill." 



6o STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

No one spoiled his drive by telling him the man 
was hungry. 

The thoughtless king kept asking his ministers for 
more money, until they told him the treasury was 
empty. Then the taxes were increased. The people 
began to hear how the Americans had won the right 
to vote their own taxes. They asked one another why 
the French might not have that right too. It really 
began to look as if there might be a revolution in 
France. 

When Lafayette returned from his visit to Mount 
Vernon, he advised the king to call an assembly of the 
nobles to decide what should be done. The assembly 
was summoned. Lafayette was one of its members. 
He declared that there must be less extravagance at 
court instead of more taxes on the workingmen. 

"Citizens ought to be allowed to vote their own 
taxes," he said. "Let us call a national assembly 
with the common people represented in it." 

"What!" cried the other nobles, "would you dare 
to put that request in writing for the king to read?" 

"I dare do anything that may broaden the liber- 
ties of my fellowmen," replied the patriot. 



n 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 6i 

He wrote a petition asking that his majesty permit 
the people of France to elect representatives to help 
make the laws. He was the only one who was bold 
enough to sign the paper. 

*'The marquis will be sent to the Bastille," whis- 
pered the nobles to one another, and they expected 
to see him seized by the guards. 

King Louis did not send Lafayette to prison; but 
he gave no heed to the petition. 

Things went from bad to worse until at length 
the king consented to summon a national assembly 
to meet at Versailles. 

Lafayette represented the nobles of his province 
and took his seat on May i, 1789. It was just one 
day after the inauguration of Washington as President 
of the United States. 



XII. — The French Revolution. 

The members of the National Assembly marched 
in a body to the Church of Saint Louis for prayers. 
The representative's of the common people walked 



62 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 




first, dressed in black; then the noblemen came, in 
silk and velvet and lace with gold chains about their 
necks; and last of all came the king and the highest 
officials of the court. 

It was a magnificent pageant, attended with the 
clang of trumpets and the chant of 
priests. The streets were crowded 
with sight-seers, among whom was 
Thomas Jefferson, the American 
minister to France. 

Now, the men in black had 
come from all parts of the kingdom 
to right the wrongs of the people; 
yet at the first meeting they heard of nothing but the 
king's need of more money. 

They grew desperate, at last, and boldly declared 
that there must be better laws. The king listened 
in silence; then he put on his gold-laced hat; the 
nobles did the same, and then — what do you think? 
— the men in black put on their caps! 

The king was amazed, and the nobles stared at 
one another in astonishment; for the common people 
had never before dared to wear caps in the presence 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 63 

of royalty. But the men in black did not stop at 
that. They held a meeting among- themselves and 
resolved not to return to their homes until the king 
had signed a written constitution for the government 
of France. 

Lafayette drew up a Declaration of Rights. It 
was something like one which the American Congress 
had sent to George III. Louis XVI. agreed to make 
reforms. Perhaps he tried to do so; but he really 
did not know how to change the old order of 
things. 

While there were bread riots around the public 
buildings in Paris, he gave a grand ball at Versailles. 
Some one hurried to tell the hungry people about it. 

''Louis mocks at our misery!" they cried. 

And the very next day they stormed the Bastille. 
They broke down the great doors and set the prisoners 
free, and then they battered the massive walls to the 
ground. King Louis was afraid to leave his palace at 
Versailles. 

Electors met in the Hotel de Ville, or City Hall. 
They declared there must be a commander of a national 
guard to keep order in Paris, and when one of them 



64 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

pointed to the bust of Lafayette which Virginia had 
presented, he was elected by a unanimous vote. 

The mobs grew wilder in spite of all the new 
guard could do. Once when they were raising a 




THE BASTILLE. 



gallows upon which to hang a harmless priest, there 
seemed no way to quell their fury. 

Lafayette sprang to a platform. Just then his 
little boy came to the place with his teacher. He 
seized the child and held him high up. 

"Gentlemen," he said, **I have the honor 
to present to you my son, George Washington 
Lafayette ! ' ' 

The name of the American patriot acted like 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 65 

magic upon the crowds below. Cheers rent the air, 
and, in the confusion, the poor priest escaped. 

As winter came on, food became scarcer than ever. 
Yet the court at Versailles was feasting. Some one 
said that when the queen heard the people had no 
bread, she laughingly asked: *'Why don't they eat 
cake then?" and that a nobleman said: "Nay, let 
them eat grass!" 

The rage of the mobs increased. Lafayette 
stationed the National Guard on the road to Versailles 
to prevent them from going there. But one day a 
fish-woman beat a drum. The ragged and hungry 
people ran together, and soon thousands were on 
their way to Versailles. 

"Bread! Bread!" they cried. 

The guard gave way. The mad creatures reached 
the palace. They killed the Swiss guards at the 
doors and ran their pikes into the queen's empty bed. 

Lafayette had followed swiftly with the National 
Guard. He drove the intruders from the palace, and 
talked to them until they seemed more calm. 

Then he led Louis to the balcony above them. 

"Long live the king!" they shouted. 



66 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



''Come," said Lafayette to Marie Antoinette. She 
appeared with the little prince and the princess. 

"Not the children!" "Not the children!" they 
cried; for they did not wish the innocent to suffer. 

The terrified queen sent 
the children within. She 
stood on the balcony alone. 
She expected instant death. 
Lafayette stepped for- 
ward. He bowed low and 
kissed her hand. The people 
again forgot their anger. 

"Long live the queen!" 
"Long live the general!" they shouted as they beat 
their pikes together. 

"Perhaps things would mend if their majesties 
left this costly palace," said a grimy blacksmith to a 
thin-visaged tailor. 

"They must go to Paris!" screamed the tailor. 
"On to Paris!" was the cry from a thousand 
throats. 

The royal family was forced into a carriage. It 
was a strange procession that went back into the great 




QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE. 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 67 

city. Lafayette and the guard rode on each side of 
the splendid carriage, but, before and behind, marched 
men and women with wild eyes and unkempt hair. 
Some held on their pikes the pillaged loaves of bread, 
and others the bloody heads of the Swiss guards, while 
the fish-woman led the van with her drum. 

At last, their majesties were safe in the palace at 
Paris. Lafayette had rescued them from death; yet 
he was firm in his devotion to the liberties of the 
people. He said to the National Assembly: "If the 
king will sign a constitution for the just government of 
France, I shall defend him; if he refuses to sign, I will 
fight him." 

Soon after this Louis signed a constitution which 
was much like that of England. On July 14, 1790, 
the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, the French 
celebrated the beginning of their freedom. In an 
open field where thousands of the people had assem- 
bled, the king and the members of the new assembly 
pledged to support the constitution. 

When Lafayette ascended the steps to take the 
oath, in the name of the army, there was loud applause; 
and, as he rode at the head of the National Guard in 



68 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

the parade which followed the solemn ceremony, all 
eyes were fixed on him. 

In his joy at what seemed to be the end of 
tyranny in his native land, he sent to Washington the 
key to the fallen Bastille, where men had once been 
imprisoned for life without trial by jury. To-day, 
you may see the great iron key among the historic 
treasures of Mount Vernon. 



XIII. — An Exile and in Prison. 

The French people had not yet learned the first 
lesson in self-government. The constitutional mon- 
archy soon failed. Mobs imprisoned the royal family 
and set fire to the houses of the nobles. 

Lafayette was grieved over these events. He had 
led the enslaved people toward liberty, but as soon as 
they were free they had outrun their guide. Because 
he would not join them in their excesses, they called 
him an aristocrat and threatened him with death. 

He fled from Paris and wrote to his wife to join 
him in England. "Let us go to America," he said, 



AN EXILE AND IN PRISON. 69 

"and establish ourselves there. Some day, when the 
storm is over, I may yet serve France." 

But the monarchs of Europe said: "This Marquis 
de Lafayette, who brought these outrageous ideas of 
liberty from America, must be silenced." 

He was arrested on the frontier and imprisoned 
in Prussia for a year. Then he was sent to a dungeon 
at Olmutz in Austria. He had wretched food. His 
clothes rotted with dampness. His bed was a pile of 
straw. Yet when he was told he might be free if he 
would betray the military strength of France, he 
refused to leave his cell. He expected to die in his chains. 

One morning he heard a rattle of keys and bars. 
He arose from his straw and saw his wife and two 
daughters enter beneath the crossed swords of the 
guards. The joy was too great. He fell in a swoon. 
When he recovered his senses, he tenderly embraced 
his loved ones. 

"And where is my little George?" he asked. 

"He is at Mount Vernon with Washington," 
replied his wife. 

"God be praised for such a friend in our hour of 
need," exclaimed the now happy father. 



70 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

When he was strong enough to bear it, the Mar- 
quise told him what had happened at Paris. It was a 
sad story. 

The king and queen had been beheaded; her 
own grandmother, mother, and sister, with thousands 
of others, had been led to the scaf- 
fold during a reign of terror. She 
herself had been in prison until 
released through the efforts of 
James Monroe, the new American 
minister to France. After many 
trials she had obtained permission 

JAMES MONROE. 

to share his captivity. 

The devoted wife remained at Olmutz. 

Meanwhile, Washington, Jefferson and other 
friends appealed to the Austrian emperor to set the 
patriot free. 

"It is impossible," replied the despot. "Lafay- 
ette's existence is a menace to the kingdoms of 
Europe. ' ' 

When, at last. Napoleon Bonaparte, at the head 
of his French troops, defeated the allied powers, who 
were trying to place another king upon the throne of 




AN EXILE AND IN PRISON. 



71 



France, he refused to sign a treaty of peace until all 
the French prisoners were surrendered. 

Lafayette was liberated. He went to Hamburg, 
in Germany, with his wife and daughters. His son 
returned from America, and 
the united family lived for a 
time in exile. 

When Napoleon became 
First Consul of France, he 
pledged himself to restore 
the constitution for which 
Lafayette had struggled so 
long. The patriot then re- 
turned to his native land. 
Most of his property at Cha- 
vaniac had been confiscated, and he made his home 
at La Grange, in the province of La Brie. 

Formerly the peasants on his estates had knelt when 
he passed. The revolution had changed all that; but 
when he taught them self-respect, they showed respect 
for others without servility. 

The Americans did not forget Lafayette in his 
retirement. In 1805, President Jefferson offered to 




NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 



72 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

appoint him governor of Louisiana; but his wife's 

health was too feeble to permit of the long voyage. 

Two years later the noble wife died. At her 

own request she was buried in that part of the 




LA GRANGE, HOME OF LAFAYETTE. 



cemetery of Picpus which is called the "cemetery of 
the beheaded," because there lay the bodies of her 
relatives who had fallen victims to the mobs. 

Napoleon did not keep his pledges to obey the 
constitution. He made himself emperor of France. 



THE MAN OF TWO WORLDS. 7^ 

After a time he was exiled by the allied powers of 
Europe, and Louis XVIIL was placed on the 
throne. 

Lafayette was a member of the National 
Assembly for several years, trying always to preserve 
the liberties of the people. Then he retired to La 
Grange, where he expected to live quietly with his 
children for the rest of his days. 



XIV. — The Man of Two Worlds. 

In 1824, in accordance with a resolution of Con- 
gress, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to 
visit the United States. He gladly accepted the 
invitation, and set out on his journey with his son 
George Washington and a private secretary. 

"It has been thirty years since I last saw the 
people of America," he said to himself. "I miist be 
prepared to meet indifferent glances; for most of my 
friends have long since passed away." 

He expected to land quietly in New York and 



74 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



secure private lodgings; but when he arrived he 
found that he was the nation's guest. 

The city was having a holiday in his honor. 
Thousands stood on the wharves 
to greet him, while cannon 
roared and banners waved. 

"Welcome, Lafayette ! " 
was inscribed on the arches 
beneath which he passed, and 
his portrait, stamped on blue 
ribbon, was everywhere to be 
seen. 

Lafayette now understood 
that he had not been forgot- 
ten, and his eyes overflowed 
with tears. 

As he went about from 
city to city, he aroused the 
greatest enthusiasm. 

He limped a little as he 
walked. The people said it was because of the 
wound he had received at Brandywine, and their 
gratitude seemed without bounds. In one public pro- 




STATUE OF LAFAYETTE, 
UNION SQUARE, N. Y. 



THE MAN OF TWO WORLDS. 75 

cession was the model of a ship with his youthful 
pledge: "I will purchase and equip a vessel at my 
own expense." 

In another a chorus of white-robed girls sang: 

"We bow not the neck and we bend not the knee, 
But our hearts, Lafayette, we surrender to thee. ' * 

It all seemed like the close of a fairy story where 
the armed knight, who had once rushed to the rescue 
of young America in distress, returned again after 
many years to behold her golden days of prosperity. 

The thirteen small colonies had become twenty- 
four united states; the population had grown from 
three millions to twelve millions; towns had become 
cities; forests had been transformed into farms; and 
the ships, which sailed on every sea, carried the 
products of soil and loom and forge to the markets 
of the world. 

When, from the well-filled public treasury. Con- 
gress presented two hundred thousand dollars to the 
hero, he received the gift with touching words of 
gratitude; but when the legislatures of Virginia, 
Maryland, and other states began to vote large sums 



76 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



of money for him, he firmly refused to accept of 
tlieir generosity. 

He stood at the tombs of Washington, Hamilton, 
Franklin, and other soldiers and statesmen who had 

helped to establish liberty, 
and he visited Jefferson and 
John Adams, whose totter- 
ing footsteps had almost 
reached the grave, to learn 
from their lips the story of 
the new republic. 

On June 17, 1825, the 
anniversary of the battle of 
Bunker Hill, Lafayette as- 
sisted in laying the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill 
monument. 

Many thousand people came to Boston to witness 
the ceremonies. During an eloquent address, Daniel 
Webster turned to the French patriot. "Fortunate, 
fortunate man!" he exclaimed; "you were connected 
with both hemispheres and with two generations! 
Heaven saw fit that the electric spark of liberty 
should be conducted through you from the New World 




JOHN ADAMS. 



THE MAN OF TWO WORLDS. 



77 



to the Old, and we, who are now here to perform this 
duty of patriotism, have all of us long ago received it 
from our fathers to cherish your name and your 
virtues. 

"Those who survived the 
battle of Bunker Hill are 
now around you. Some of 
them you have known in the 
trying scenes of war. Behold 
them now stretch forth their 
feeble arms to embrace you! 
Behold, they raise their trem- 
bling voices to invoke the 
blessings of God on you and . 
yours forever!" 

On July 4th, Lafayette was at New York and 
listened to the reading of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. Well did he remember the dinner party at 
Metz, nearly fifty years before, where he had first heard 
about this Declaration of Independence. And as he 
sat upon a high platform and looked down upon the 
thousands before him, he smiled in content, for he 
thought he saw in their happy faces the fulfilment of 




BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 



78 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

his youthful dreams. Yet a few weeks later he began 
to fear for the safety of the Republic. 

There was a tremendous uproar during- a political 
campaign for the election of the next President. At 
the taverns, on busy streets and lonely roads, in every 
nook and cranny of the country, 
people disputed about whether An- 
drew Jackson, Henry Clay, John 
Quincy Adams, or William H. Craw- 
ford would make the best President. 
Public opinion was so divided 
DANIEL 'WEBSTER. ^j^^^ whcu clcctlon day came no 
candidate received a majority of votes. The French- 
man thought that there really seemed no way to settle 
the result except with pistols and swords. 

He did not know much about the laws of the 
United States. But he soon learned what a great 
instrument of good government our Constitution 
is. 

The Constitution provides that when no candidate 
has received a majority of the electoral votes, the 
three highest names on the list must come before the 
House of Representatives. 




THE MAN OF TWO WORLDS. 79 

When, at last, John Quincy Adams was chosen by 
the House, all factions accepted the verdict. 

"Ah!" exclaimed Lafayette, "this is, indeed, a 
wonderful nation. It is built on a solid foundation, 
and cannot fall. ' ' 

The more he traveled in the United States, the 
more he was impressed with the greatness of its 
future. When he sailed up the Mississippi and the 
Ohio and saw the rude cabins on their banks, he 
said: "These are the beginnings of cities." 

When he drove over the National Pike Road or 
made a voyage on the new Erie Canal, he said: 
"These are the beginnings of yet greater highways 
which will one day unite" — Do you think he said the 
Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean? No, he did 
not say that, because in 1825 the Mexicans claimed 
most of the territory west of the Rocky Mountains, 
He said — "which will one day unite all sections of the 
country. ' ' 

Lafayette spent more than a year with his friends. 
When his visit was over, he embarked in a new 
American frigate, the Brandyzvine^ and the prayers 
of millions followed him as he sailed away for the 



8o STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

last time from our shores. So much honor had been 
shown this guest of the nation that, for many years 
after, if any one received special attention, he was said 
to be "Lafayetted." 

Nor was the hero forgotten in his absence. Old 
places in the East and new places in . the West and 
South remembered him until, to-day, there are over 
ninety towns and counties in the United States whose 
names recall him or the home of his old age. 

The boys and girls who are so fortunate as to live 
at La Grange, or Lafayette, or Fayetteville, or 
Fayette Hill, or any other Fayette, must surely think 
often of the gallant young French marquis who came 
to the rescue of our thirteen struggling colonies. 



XV. — The Last Days of a Patriot. 

When Lafayette arrived in France he was received 
with open arms by his countrymen. They called him 
the protector of their Constitution. And, indeed, just 
at that time the French Constitution needed pro- 
tection. 



THE LAST DAYS OF A PATRIOT. 8i 

During Lafayette's absence Louis XVIIL had died 
and Charles X. had come to the throne. King Charles 
was determined to restore the old order of things. 
He destroyed the liberty of the press, dissolved the 
National Assembly, and chose his favorites as ministers. 

The members of the Assembly met again of their 
own accord, and declared they would resist these 
unconstitutional measures. Then the people of Paris 
rushed together. They barricaded the streets, defeated 
the royal troops, and drove the king from the city. 

Lafayette might have been elected President, but 
he refused to accept the office; for he knew very well 
that the French people were not ready for a republic. 
He desired a constitutional monarchy like that of 
England. He visited Louis Philippe, the Duke of 
Orleans. This prince had traveled in the United 
States and England, and understood what a govern- 
ment "by the people, for the people" meant. 

*'You know," said Lafayette to the duke, "that I 
regard the Constitution of the United States as the 
most perfect that has ever existed." 

"I think as you do," replied his highness; "it is 
impossible to have passed two years in America and 



82 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 



not be of that opinion. Bnt do you believe that the 
French people are ready for that?" 

"No, they are only ready for a throne surrounded 
with republican institutions." 
"Such is my belief," 
said the duke. 

Soon after this the Na- 
tional Assembly met in the 
Hotel de Ville. The Duke 
of Orleans was there. He 
pledged himself to receive 
the crown, not by right of 
birth, but as the free gift 
of the people. 
Lafayette led him to an open window and 
embraced him. 

"Long live the Duke of Orleans!" shouted the 
people who had assembled below to greet him. 

Not long after, he was crowned King of France 
by the Assembly. 

* ' Long live King Louis Philippe ! ' ' cried every one. 

Lafayette felt that he had at last won his long 

fight for the constitutional liberty of his beloved 




LOUIS PHILIPPE. 



THE LAST DAYS OF A PATRIOT. 



83 



country. The aged patriot retired to La Grange, 
where he lived yet a little longer among his children 
and friends. In his favorite room hung the portraits 
o f Washington and 
Franklin and a paint- 
ing of the siege of 
Yorktown ; and here 
he loved to sit and 
muse over the exciting 
scenes of his early days. 

One beautiful morn- 
ing, May 20, 1834, he 
died at Paris, sur- 
rounded by his family; 
and there was mourn- 
ing throughout France. 
His remains were placed with great pomp by the side 
of those of his wife in the cemetery of Picpus. As 
the casket was lowered, earth from America, mingled 
with that of France, was strewn upon it. 

''Lafayette was a man of two worlds," said the 
Paris papers which were banded in black. 

Church bells tolled in his honor in many countries. 




LAFAYETTE S GRAVE AT PICPUS. 



84 STORY OF MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 

In the United States, Congress wore mourning for 
thirty days, and, by order of President Jackson, the 
same honors were paid to his memory by the army 
and navy as had been paid to that of George Washing- 
ton. 

As the years went by, the French people learned 
to govern themselves. They created a republican 
government, and to-day the Republic of France is one 
of the great powers of Europe. 

As for the United States, the government has 
grown steadily stronger and greater upon the founda- 
tions which Lafayette helped to build. 

It was Washington who said: "Lafayette deserves 
all the gratitude which our country can render 
him. ' ' 

And on October 19, 1898, the anniversary of the 
victory at Yorktown, young patriots in every city, 
town, and village in our country remembered these 
words. They held memorial services in Lafayette's honor, 
and contributed funds to erect, in the city of Paris, a 
noble monument to his name. And all agreed that 
the monument should be dedicated on July 4, 1900, 
the anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. 



THE LAST DAYS OF A PATRIOT. 



S5 



For it was the news of Liberty's birth which first 
taught the young captain of artillery at Metz what his 
mission in life should be. 




LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD. 
Presented by the People of France to the Republic of the United States. 






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